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Visa Tips

Schedule your visa application appointment early. Processing your visa may be delayed depending on your country of citizenship.

Your SEVIS Record

To apply for and receive an F or J visa stamp, your information must be entered in the SEVIS database and you must have a SEVIS-generated certificate of eligibility (I-20 or DS-2019). Occasionally, even when a student's information is correctly entered in SEVIS, the consulate may not be able to see his or her SEVIS record because of a SEVIS error. If this occurs during your application, please contact us. We will contact the SEVIS helpdesk to have the problem resolved. Unfortunately, there is no way to determine if your record will be available to the consulate in advance.

Pre-Payment of SEVIS Fee

Certain international students seeking F-1 or J-1 status are required to pay a $100 SEVIS fee. The fee is used by the United Sates Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to fund the Student and Exchange Visitor Program and the Exchange Visitor Information System (SEVIS). You must pay the fee before you visit the U.S. consulate for your visa interview.

New applicants for F-1 student status should pay the fee if their initial Form I-20 is issued on or after September 1, 2004 (see Item 10 on the form). New applicants for J-1 status should pay the fee if their initial DS-2019 is dated on or after September 1, 2004 (see Item 7 on your Form DS-2019) unless they are participating in a federally sponsored program that has a program code starting with G-1, G-2 or G-3.

Some visa applicants may be required to pay the fee if they have previously been denied a visa. Some continuing international students may also need to pay the fee in order to be allowed to re-enter the U.S. or to be reinstated, even if they are not seeking a visa at a U.S. consulate or embassy.

For more information about SEVIS fee requirements, visit the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement FAQ page.

Ties to Your Home Country

Under U.S. law, all applicants for non-immigrant visas, such as student visas, are viewed as intending immigrants until they can convince the consular officer that they are not. You must therefore be able to show that you have reasons for returning to your home country that are stronger than those for remaining in the U.S.

Ties to your home country are the things that bind you to your home town, homeland or current place of residence: job, family or fiancé, financial prospects that you own or will inherit, investments or bank accounts. The interviewing officer may ask about your specific intentions or promise of future employment, family or other relationships, educational objectives, grades, long-range plans and career prospects in your home country.

You may want to get a letter from a potential employer in your country stating that you are being considered for a job, or that the company needs people with the degree you are coming to the U.S. to complete. You might bring statistics on the projected position availability in your field of study in your home country. Have a few sentences in mind that express how you intend to use your degree at home after you finish your program.

If your or your family owns property, like a house, apartment or land, take the deed or the lease. If your family owns a business, take letters from a bank describing the business. Bring something that shows that your family resides in your home country, such as deeds or bank accounts. If you have a brother or sister who studied in the U.S. and then returned home, you could take a copy of the sibling's diploma and a statement from their employer showing that they have returned home.

Each person's situation is different, of course, and there is no magic explanation or single document, certificate, or letter which can guarantee visa issuance.

English

Anticipate that the interview will be conducted in English and not in your native language. One suggestion is to practice English conversation with a native speaker before the interview, but do not prepare speeches. If you are coming to the U.S. solely to study intensive English, be prepared to explain how English will be useful for you in your home country.

Financial Documentation

The financial documentation you bring should represent liquid assets in an amount that is at least as high as the dollar figure indicated in item number 8 on your I-20. Be prepared to explain that all of those funds will be readily available to you during your studies in the U.S. Your visa application is stronger if at least part of your financial support comes from your home country, even if most of it comes from the U.S.

Make sure the country of origin for each piece of financial documentation is clear. If your financial documentation does not already show the date that each account was opened, obtain a letter from the bank official with this information, if possible.

Speak for Yourself

Do not bring parents or family members with you to the interview. The consular officer wants to interview you, not your family. A negative impression is created if you are not prepared to speak on your own behalf. If you are a minor applying for a high school program and need your parents there is case there are questions about funding, your parents should wait in the waiting room.

Know the Program and How It Fits Your Career Plans

If you are not able to articulate the reasons you will study in a particular program in the United States, you may not succeed in convincing the consular officer that you are indeed planning to study, rather than to immigrate. You should also be able to explain how studying in the U.S. relates to your future professional career when you return home.

Be Brief

Because of the volume of applications received, all consular officers are under considerable time pressure to conduct a quick and efficient interview. They must make a decision, for the most part, on the impressions they form during the first minute of the interview. Consequently, what you say first and the initial impression you create are critical to your success. Keep your answers to the officer's questions short and to the point.

The consular officer will take a legalistic view and administer the law in an impersonal way. In the U.S., it is considered important to be impersonal when administering laws. Do not try to negotiate or discuss personal matters.

Not All Countries Are Equal

Applicants from countries suffering economic problems or from countries from which many students have stayed as immigrants will have more difficulty getting visas. Statistically, applicants from those countries are more likely to be intending immigrants. They are also more likely to be asked about job opportunities at home after their study in the U.S.

Dependents Remaining at Home

If your spouse and children are remaining behind in your country, be prepared to address how they will support themselves in your absence. This can be an especially tricky area if you are the primary source of income for your family. If the consular officer gains the impression that your family will need you to remit money from the U.S. in order to support themselves, your student visa application will almost certainly be denied. If your family does decide to join you at a later time, it is helpful to have them apply at the same post where you applied for your visa.

Employment

Your main purpose in coming to the U.S. should be to study, not for the chance to work before or after graduation. Do not speak of plans to work in the U.S. The consular officer will want to know that you can support yourself with your own or your sponsor's funding, not from working in the U.S.

The availability of on-campus work is not guaranteed and cannot be used as part of your financial support for visa purposes unless the university has offered you an academic assistantship. While many students do work off-campus during their studies, such employment is incidental to their main purpose of completing their U.S. education.

If your spouse is also applying for an accompanying F-2 visa, be aware that F-2 dependents cannot, under any circumstances, be employed in the U.S. If asked, be prepared to address what your spouse intends to do with his or her time while in the U.S. Volunteering is a permitted activity for F-2 dependents. Be aware that government regulations prohibit adult F-2 dependents from attending classes unless they are avocational or recreational, which means they should not start a degree program but could take a painting class, for example.

Completing the Application

On the visa application form, there is a question about whether you have ever applied for permanent residency in the U.S. Please note that if you have applied for the U.S. Green Card Lottery, this does not constitute applying for U.S. permanent residency. If you have won the Green Card Lottery and proceeded with the permanent residency application, then you have applied for U.S. permanent residency.

Maintain a Positive Attitude

Do not engage the consular officer in an argument, but rather maintain a positive attitude. If you are denied a student visa, ask the officer for a list of documents he or she would suggest you bring in order to overcome the refusal. Try to get the reason you were denied in writing.

More Tips

Be sure that your passport is valid at least six months beyond the date that you intend to arrive in the U.S.

It should be immediately clear to the consular officer what written documents you are presenting and what they signify. Lengthy written explanations cannot be quickly read or evaluated. You will have two to three minutes of interview time, if you're lucky.

If you overstayed your authorized stay in the U.S. previously, you may be asked why. Be prepared to explain what happened clearly and concisely and to provide documentation if it is available.

Online Resources

Loyola University would like to credit Gerald A. Wunsch, Esq., 1997, then a member of the Consular Issues Working Group, and a former U.S. Consular Officer in Mexico, Suriname and the Netherlands, and Martha Wailes of Indiana University for their contributions to this document. Thanks also to North Central University for their contributions and to the U.S. Department of State for their input. Thank you to NAFSA for the original compilation of this page.